Image Credit- BCCI
In the upcoming five-match Test series between Australia and India, which is scheduled to take place from November 2024 to January 2025, former Australia batter Matthew Hayden feels that runs will come at a “premium” and that Australia’s home advantage “has been taken away quite a lot” in recent years.
Regarding the characteristics of the pitches in the five locations—Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney—Hayden stated that “three [Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne] out of five are drop-in wickets” during the CEAT cricket rating awards.
“One is a day-night Test match [in Adelaide] – the second Test match,” he said. “Again, once you get those overhead conditions under that twilight zone, they can be really difficult [to bat on]. I would go as far as to say that the home advantage in Australia has been taken away quite a lot, simply on the basis that if you get the wrong side of a certain session, be that you’re 4 for 130, at twilight you can be 8 for 150.
“So there’s no chance to naturally dominate a game. It’s quite even the whole time, so it’s a very different type of cricket, because you don’t have those traditional surfaces.”
Not only has Australia lost its hold on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the past ten years due to losses in their last two home series against India, but they have also had their stronghold in Brisbane breached twice in the last three years: first in a 1-1 drawn series against the much-weakened West Indies in January of this year, and then in a defeat to India in January of 2021.
After 11 straight wins, Australia suffered its first defeat in a day-night Test match against the West Indies, by a narrow margin of eight runs.
Whereas his former captain Ricky Ponting has defeated Australia 3-1, Hayden, who believes that the forthcoming series against India will be a “unbelievable and historic series” between the world’s two best Test teams, was unable to choose a favourite.
“You look at the line-ups, and it’s hard to really tell who’s got the edge,” Hayden said. “I sense that it’s going to be runs that are going to be the point of difference. So the best need to stand up in this series; runs are going to be at a premium. And I also feel like the structure of the tournament being from the west to the east is a bit of the unique way that the Australian landscape of cricket is going to be played out. It’s usually the other way around. It’s going to be a great summer.”